[KS] (CHS Zoom, Oct 25) Meng-heng Lee, Ming Legal Statutes and Korean Practice: Revisiting the Chinsan Incident of 1791

[Sean Han]

Ming Legal Statutes and Korean Practice: Revisiting the Chinsan Incident of
1791

Presented by Meng-heng Lee, Ph. D. Candidate, Columbia University.

The event will take place on Oct 25, 9:00 - 10:30am (Seoul Time) / Oct 24,
05:00-06:30pm (LA Time) / Oct 24, 08:00-09:30pm (New York Time).

Please register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvfu-urDkqHdWIWq1SOaAr2zexTiSsdfI9
[image: Picture1.jpg]

While Chosŏn Korea used *The Great Ming Code* as its penal code for
centuries, its application of Ming statutes was nuanced and differed from
its Ming-Qing Chinese model. Moreover, in legal cases, Ming laws were not
the sole authority; Chosŏn also applied its own codified legal regulations.
In addressing its first Catholic-related legal case, the Chinsan Incident
of 1791, the Chosŏn state employed a mixed legal approach: the ruling
elites referenced both Ming statutes, including an analogy-based provision,
and a Korean-promulgated article, the “Three Fundamental Bonds and Five
Constant Virtues” (*kangsang-choe* 綱常罪). This mixed legal practice and its
historical implications warrant further scholarly attention. This study
reexamines the Chinsan Incident’s historical significance by analyzing the
legal rationale of Chosŏn’s ruling elites and the role of King Chŏngjo (r.
1776–1800) in the adjudication process. Considering the social and cultural
milieu emphasizing ancestral veneration, the elite’s deep understanding of
Ming legal practices, and the potential for political purges under the
guise of anti-Catholicism, I argue that the King adhered strictly to
written laws, invoked an additional Korean legal statute in the final
judgment, and even redefined “perverse teaching” to conclude the case. In a
political arena marked by factional conflicts, these dynamics shaped the
handling of Catholic-related cases in Chosŏn Korea, forging a hybrid of
Ming legal practices with Korean characteristics.

About the Speaker

Meng-heng Lee is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University in premodern
Korean history. His expertise lies in legal and political history of Chosŏn
Korea (1392-1910) and historical Sino-Korean relations. In his
dissertation, he articulates how a Chinese priest and his illegal crossing
of the Sino-Korean borderland contingently shaped the anti-Catholic legal
practice in late Chosŏn Korea, highlighting the critical but underestimated
roles that Qing-Chosŏn relations played in the Korean legitimization of
anti-Catholicism.


[image: Choson History Society 03-01.jpg]

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